The Squat Book Promotional Movie has been awarded a Bronze2007 Telly Award in the category of Non-Broadcast Production- Religion/Spirituality. The Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from ad agencies, production companies, and TV stations worldwide.

The Squat Movie was videod on location in the East Village of New York City and features Squat author Taylor Field discussing the various aspects of the book including how the plotline of Squat intersects his own life’s story.The Squat Movie was directed and edited by David Woodard.

Kathleen Popa has posted the concluding Part 5 of the discussion on issues of homelessness between Squat author Taylor Field and “The Homeless Guy” Kevin Barbieux. This discussion began after Kathleen, who posted a favorable review of Squaton her blog, interviewed Kevin, a homeless blogger from Nashville, about his perspective of Squat. Taylor was intrigued by some of Kevin’s criticism of the novel and initiated contact with Kevin which as resulted in this dialogue.

Winter is the best time to remember summer. I wrote the novel Squaton cold Saturday mornings, when no one else was in the office, when silence would put its arms out and eak in its own thin way. I wanted to be quiet enough for the buildings themselves to speak. With a little attentiveness, the bricks, the tenements, the “squats” on my block would remember the sweating hopes and fears of those who once slept there. Many of those who slumbered in these once-humid rooms in abandoned buildings have already died. They seem to be almost completely forgotten now. Somehow it is easier for me to remember their voices when it is snowing outside my window.“When things are taking their ordinary course, it is hard to remember what matters,” the pastor in Marilynne Robinson’s recent novel writes. When I am at my job as a pastor in the city, and I am dealing with the bric-a-brac of doing “community service,” it is sometimes more difficult to remember the larger story. In a sense, the main character, Squid, a squatter, is listening for some story that will give meaning to his compulsive, lonely life.The novel, Squat, takes place within twenty-four hours. At one point, an older alcoholic named Unc proclaims Miles Davis, musical improviser and occasional boxer, to be the patron saint of the day. Squid’s day is not like a symphony. It is like jazz. The day is not a pre-planned march. It is a sparring match. Anything could happen.

The novel is a specific retelling of a biblical story, perhaps my favorite story in the Bible. It is not an exact retelling. It is more like a piece of music, where a musical idea is taken up and developed, but every note is not the same as the notes in the original tune. Of course one wonders if Squid will make it through the day and survive the rancor of a small-time drug dealer. But on another level, the book is a question about Squid himself. Will he remain a bundle of squalid randomness, or become a part of some wider, truer story?

Squid’s dilemma is my dilemma. Will I get trapped in my own sordid little story of may own making, or will I find myself swept up in a grander drama, a real drama, beyond my imagining? The answer lies in Squid’s name.

Congratulations to Taylor Field, Squat, and B&H Publishing Group!Squat has been chosen as a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award finalist in the Religious Fiction category!

Nearly 1,400 books were entered in 59 categories. These were narrowed to 698 finalists, from 419 publishers. The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers, selected from our readership. ForeWord’s Book of the Year Awards program was designed specifically for them to share in the process of discovering distinctive books across a number of genres with judgments based on their own authority in each category and on their patron/customer interests.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America at the Javits Center in New York City, June 1st from 2:30pm at LIVE@ Second Stage located on the main show floor. The winners of the two Editor’s Choice Prizes will be awarded $1,500 each.

Kathleen Popa has posted Part 3 and Part 4 of the discussion on issues of homelessness between Squat author Taylor Field and “The Homeless Guy” Kevin Barbieux. This discussion began after Kathleen, who posted a favorable review of Squaton her blog, interviewed Kevin, a homeless blogger from Nashville, about his perspective of Squat. Taylor was intrigued by some of Kevin’s criticism of the novel and initiated contact with Kevin which as resulted in this dialogue.

Kathleen Popa has posted Part 2 of the discussion on issues of homelessness between Squat author Taylor Field and “The Homeless Guy” Kevin Barbieux. This discussion began after Kathleen, who posted a favorable review of Squaton her blog, interviewed Kevin, a homeless blogger from Nashville, about his perspective of Squat. Taylor was intrigued by some of Kevin’s criticism of the novel and initiated contact with Kevin which as resulted in this dialogue.

Well, Kevin was much more critical of Squat. This has prompted Taylor to seek further dialog with Kevin about the issues he raised in his critique of Squat. This continued dialog is being sponsored by Kathleen at her blog. The first installment appreared today.